Forming, stretching, and drying support for gloves and the like



- Nov. 21,1923.

1,475,193 A. MEEHAN FORMING, STRETCHING, AND DRYING SUPPORT FOR' GLOVES AND THE LIKE I Filed Dec. 17, 1920 SSfieecs-Shee'h 1 Nov. 27 1923. 1,475,193

A. MEEHAN FORMING, STRETCHTNG, AND DRYING SUPPORT FOR GLOVES AND THE LIKE Filec} Dec. 1'7, 1920 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I I H I II I I. N. I

flawewzmeeham' A. MEEHAN FORMING, STRETCHING, AND DRYING SUPPORT FOR GLOVES AND THE LIKE Filed Dec. 17, 1920 3 Sheets-Sheet s Illlllfi u Inven/Zo flZbePiMeeh an I able position Patented Nov, 27, 1323, i

If." FATS ALBERT MEEHAN, OF PORTLAND, MAINE.

FOR-MING, STRETCHING, AND DRYING SUPPORT FOR GLOVES AND THE LIKE.

Application filed December 17, 1920. Serial 1\To. 431,356,

To all whom it may concern. 7

Be it known that I, ALBERT FIEEHAN, a subject of the Kingdom of Great Britain, and a resident of the city of Portland, county of Cumberland, and State of Maine, have invented an Improvement in Forming, Stretching, and Drying Supports for Gloves and the like, of which the following is a specification.

This invention aims to provide an improved form or support upon which gloves and other hand coverings may be mounted for forming or stretching either in a wet or dry state and, when applied in a wet state, to prevent them from shrinking or otherwise losing their-shape.

My invention will best be understood from a description of one selected embodiment thereof illustrated in'the accompanydrawings, to which reference may be Referring to the drawings, inthe embodiment of my invention there shown Figure 1 represents the device as a whole;

Figure 2 a view of one face of the hand support or parts comprising the same;

Figure 3 a vertical section on the dotted line 38, Figure 2; v

Figure 4 an inner face view of the front hand member, Figure 2, it being the member representing the'inner or palm face of the hand or glove.

Figure 5 is a face view of the accompanying hand member corresponding to the outer or back hand face member;

Figure 6 a plan view of the right hand end of the base, Figure 1, showing the preliminary positioning support for the hand members with the latter shown in section in position therein.

Figure 7 a right end elevation, Figure 1,

showing saidpreliminary supports of the band members broken off in position therein;

Figure 8 aview of the Wrist or forearm portion of the support with the outer covering or cuff in section to expose the work ing parts within;

Figure 9 a view similar to Figure 8 with the parts in expanded or extended position; I l f Figure 10 is a sectional detail on the dotted line 1010, Figure 9, illustrating one means for adjusting the parts Figures 8 and 9 and for retaining the same in adjust- Figure 11 a horizontal section on the dotted line 11-11, Figure 8, looking downward; and

Figure 12 a horizontal section on the dottedline 12- 12, Figure 9, also looking downward.

Referring'to the drawings of the particular embodiment of my invention selected for illustration herein and particularly to Figure 1, the several parts of my support are preferably mounted upon a common base 15 carrying, for example, at the right-hand two upright socket holders 16 arranged to receive between them the hand supporting portions of my device preliminarily while the glove or other article to be treated is placed thereon.

The hand supporting portion of my approved device, see Figures 2 to 5 inclusive, comprises twomembers 17, 18, each roughly shaped respectively to approximate the form and dimensions of one-half of the human hand. The member 17 intended to approximate the palm face of the hand is struck up generally to shape from a sheet. of suitable material, preferably of metal, or it may be cast or otherwise formed, and is shown provided with the finger portions 19 andthumb portion 20. For economy of material, particularly when the latter is struck up from sheet metal, the thumb portion 20 may bestruck up by cutting a portion from the lower part of the hand at 21 and turning the said struck-up portion upward and outward, as best shown in Figure 3, to form a fairly naturally positioned thumb portion. The other hand member 18, see Figures 3' and 5, is generally shaped as is the member 17 but to correspond in size andform to the back portion of the hand; that is to say, the crowning portions of the two members will be away from eachother so that when brought together with their con cave faces adjacent, the two members together will form a rounded support like a hand including the-fingers andthumb, and upon which a glove may be placed and held generally in desired position and dimens-ion. I

The outer hand portion 18 is provided with a thumb: portion 22-struck up from the body thereof at 23, as is best' shown in Figure 5, and is bent inward and upward as shown in Figure 3, the member 17 just above its thumb portion 20 being provided with. a

clearance opening 2& .through. 'wh ich' .,the

are positioned approximately to correspond.

with the opposite position of the thumb upon the human hand.

It will be understood that these two hand members 17, 18, may be inserted in a glove or the glove may be applied thereto'when said members are in relatively collapsed position; that is to say, one positioned close to the other and then after the glove shall have been positioned thereupon, said members, if separated, will cause the glove thereon to be extended or even stretched according to the degree of pressure tending to separate the said two hand members.

.Adjacent the thumb member 20, Figure 2, the member 17 is provided with a crowning portion 24* approximately to conform to the thickening portion of the hand at the base of the thumb, said portion 2 1* being distributed in proper degree at the opposite sides of the opening 21 and around the base of the thumb member 20.

In the present embodiment of my invention'as a means for supporting the'hand members and extending or stretching the glove, I have provided said two hand members 17, 18, with oppositely concaved and generally semi-cylindrical channels 25,

26, which, when the two hand members are positioned for receiving thereon a glove to be held and dried, present together a generally cylindrical way or passage to receive an expansion member 27, shown partially and in full lines in Figures 2 and 3 and in dotted and also full lines in Figure 1. This expansion member may be of generally cylindrical shape approximately to fill the space presented by and between the two hand members 17, 18, and to expand said members uniformly from top to bottom, or, and preferably, said expansion member may taper as seen in Fig. 3 and may be provided with an equalizing enlargement 28 at an intermediate point between its top and bot tomto cause the expanding or stretching effeet to be produced from one single point, such, for example, as at 28 and thereby af ford an opportunity for the said hand members to adjust themselves more or less between the tips of the fingers and the lower or wrist end thereof, according to the de' gree of extension or expansion possible in the particular glove placed thereon. For example, should the wrist portion of a given glove permit of a greater expansion or stretch than the finger portions, the moment the tips of the finger portions of the supporting members reach the limit of reasonable expansion within the tips of the glove fingers, a free stretching effect exerted by the stretching member 27 will throw the stretching action fully into the lower or wrist portion of the device and conversely if the wrist portion of the glove chances to be relatively small; then the expansion of the hand memberswill first reach their limit in the vicinity of the wrist and the enlarged portion 28 of the stretching device will therefore throw the stretching movement into the finger portions. Thus, in every direction by using a balance-stretching or compensation device controllable by the operator the hand memhere may conform transversely and vertically to any inequalities or irregularities in the member to be stretched.

Preferably 1 provide the lower or wrist portions of the hand member with limiting means to prevent excessiveextension or expansion in that vicinity because of the tendency to cause excess of separation in the vicinity of the wrist. such limiting means comprise the two limiting screws 29, Figure 2, passed loosely through the member 17 and in threaded engagement with the member 18. By adjusting these limiting screws toward or from the member 18 in which they are mounted, the degree of separation possible at the wrist ends of the hand members may be regulated as desired.

For convenience of operation the two hand members are first loosely mounted in the preliminary holding sockets 16 and the glove loosely placed thereover, after which said hand members bearing the glove are removed from the temporary holding sockets 16 and applied to the upstanding stretching member previously placed in upright position upon the support 15 at a convenient nearby point, as indicated in Figure 1.

To facilitate drying, the hand members maybe perforated or ventilated as by perforations 30, Figure 1. r

The device so far described will sufiiee for mens gloves or womens short gloves, but for womens longer gloves extending beyond the wrist or forearm I have devised a wrist or forearm expanding or stretching portion, best shown in Figures 1 and 7 to 12 inclusive.

Referring to said figures, first to Figure 1, there is erected upon the base 15 an upright support 31, upon which, see Figures 9 to 12 inclusive, are mounted respectively the stationary collars To these collars are respectively pivoted the inner ends of radially disposed links 34 and 3e, pivotally connected at their outer ends to the upper and lower extremities of expansion bars 85, the lower links 34* being preferably longer than the upper links 34 so that, as said links are swungoutwardly and upi'vardly, they will cause the lower ends of the expansion bar to be thrown readily outward to greater distance than the upper ends-and In the present instance also to conform generallyv to the shape of the wrist and forearm, which increases in size from the wrist toward the elbow.

Immediately below the lowermost stationary collar 33 is a sliding sleeve 36 connected with the links 8 1* by the links 37, as'best shown in Figure 8, the whole arrangement roughly resembling an umbrella frame which, by vertical movement of the sleeve 36,'will cause the links or ribs 34 and Si to extend or contract and be raised and lowered. 1

To retain sliding sleeve 36 in desired adjustable position, any suitable means may be employed. I have here illustrated for the purpose a looking or adjusting pin 38 carried by the sleeve 86 and adapted to enter one or another of a series of openings or recesses 39 in the upstanding support 31 provided for the purpose.

The upper end of the upright support 31 is socketed as at 40, Figures 8 and 9, to receive the lower end of the stretching member 27 so that after the hand portion of the glove has been placed upon the hand members and the latter expanded to fully fill-out or even stretch, the hand portion ofthe glove, said stretching member 27 with the hand members and glove mounted thereon, may be lifted from the socket of the base 15 and positioned in the socket 10 or upon the upper end of the support 31 to enable the wrist or forearm portion of the glove, if the latter be provided with said portion, to

-' be drawn down over and about the expansion members 35, after which the latter may be expanded by raising the sleeve 36 as described to fill out and extend or stretch the wrist or forearm portion of the glove.

Should it be desired to provide a more complete form for the wrist and forearm portion of the glove than is provided by expansion members 35, I have provided an enveloping cufi or cover 41, see Figures 1 and 8 to 12 inclusive, made of leather or stiffened material and expansible as by overlapping its edges, as at 4:2, see Figures 11 and 12. This cuff is preferably and naturally resilient to follow the contractory movements of the expansion members 35, yet will readily expand with and by said members 35 as the latter are thrown outward by raising the slidingsleeve This cuif 41 may also be provided with perforations 4:3. to facilitate drying of the wrist and arm portions of the gloves.

In use after a glove has been wet, either accidentally or in cleaning, it may be placed upon the device above described and there retained in fully extended, expanded or even stretched condition until it shall have become fully dried, when it may be removed and will then be found to have suffered no. change in dimension or shape by reason of the wetting. The device may also be employed for stretching gloves in a dry state and for retaining the expanded form thereof after use.

By suitable change in dimensions or con tour, the relatively movable members that hand only, itwill be apparent that a separate hand portion similarly constructed, operated and mounted with appropriate modifications in structural arrangement to correspond with the human right hand, is designed to form a part of my invention.

My invention obviously is not restricted to the particular embodiment herein disclosed and described.

I claim as my invention:

1. A device of the class described comprising, in combination, a hand portion and a separate wrist or arm portion, said portions being adapted for use independently and in combination.

2. A device of the class described comprising, in combination, an expansible hand portion and a separately expansible wrist or arm portlon for use separately and in combination.

3. A device of the class described con1prising an expansible hand portion combined with pressure equalizing expansion means insertible into the hand portion and movable independently of the insertion of the hand portion into the article to be treated to expand said hand portion throughout.

4:. In a device of the class described, in combination, an expansible hand portion having oppositely arranged complementary members, and mechanism controllable by the operator for spreading said complementary members and providing a pivotal support therefor, said spreading mechanism, being adapted to cooperate with said hand portion to equalize the pressure exerted by the hand portion throughout its length.

5. A device of the class described comprising, in combination, a support or form having a plurality of detachably connected portions, expansion means permitting the expansion ofsaid portions separately, and drying means, including means for introducing air to the outer surface of said portions when supporting an article thereon.

6. A device of the class described comprising, in combination, a hand portion, preliminary supporting means therefor, anda separate wrist or arm portion and supporting means therefor, said hand portion being transferable from one of said supporting means to the other of said supporting means.

7. A device of the class described comprising, in combination, a base, a hand portion, expansionmeans therefor, preliminary supporting means, and a separately expansible wrist or arm portion and supporting means therefor all mounted on said base, said hand portion being transferable from said preliminary supporting means to said arm or wrist portion and vice versa.

8. In a device of the class described, a hand portion including oppositely arranged free members and a rigidly acting spreading member providing an adjustable pivotal support therefor.

9.'A device of the class described comprising, in combination, two separable hand portions having complementary thumb m embers, one of said portions having communieating means whereby its thumb member may be projected through the opposite hand portion and into adjacent relation with the other of said thumb members.

10. A device of the class described comprising, in combination, a support or form having relatively adjustable complementary portions representing opposite faces of the human hand and including finger and thumb members, one of said portions having com- -municating means whereby the thumb mem ber of one portion may be arranged in com plementary relation to the thumb member of the opposite portion, and expansion means therefor. I

11. A device of the class described comprising, in combination, ahand'portion, a

separate detachable wrist or arm portion, meansfor expanding the wrist or arm porsupport. I

13. In a device of the class described, an expansible and contractible arm or wrist portion, including a support, an outer member providing a tapered sheath or envelope enclosing said support, and means within said outer member for expanding the same. including a series of spaced rods movably mounted on and arranged in angular relation to said support, and means for simultaneously actuating said rods toward or away from said support.

14. A device of the class described comprising, in combination, a hand portion including oppositely arranged movable members 17, 18, a separate wrist or arm portion 41 detachably connected to said hand portion, and supporting means therefor.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification this 18th day of November, 1920.

ALBERT MEEH N. 

